Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and, along with its central port, also the second-largest port in Europe, ninth-largest port in the world, and the most populous city in the European Union that is not a national capital. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million inhabitants. Hamburg's proper name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg) It makes reference to Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, also to the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen Federal States of Germany.